The present invention relates to the production of coke from coal by coking the coal, and optionally by drying and/or preheating the coal prior to coking, and further optionally by dry cooling the coke subsequent to coking.
In the past, coke was produced in a manner such that coal was first dried, if added as wet coal, and preheated in a container. The preheated coal was then filled into one chamber of a chamber oven provided with a large number of parallel chambers spaced apart by relatively large distances, in which oven the coking temperature was reached by heating the chamber walls with suitable gases. The coking process was conducted at staggered times in adjacent chambers. After coking, the finished coke was discharged through side chamber doors, and optionally was cooled moist or dry in a special coke cooling installation. The production of coke by this previous method thus required a relatively expensive installation. Additionally, coking in batteries of chamber ovens made it difficult to adapt to different discharge requirements, since individual chambers must not be cooled, or energy is consumed in a nonproductive manner. This requirement of not being able to cool individual chambers also caused problems when repairs became necessary since it was necessary for personnel to enter a still very hot oven.